Powerpoint Circles
FCLD, in collaboration with Professor Ray McGivney and several other Arts and Sciences faculty, has been running a faculty development program on the effective use of PowerPoint in teaching and learning. The program, open to all instructors, is designed to provide a forum for sharing ideas and effective techniques for using PowerPoint in the classroom. These informal Friday afternoon gatherings, called PowerPoint Circles, typically include a brief (25-30 minute) presentation by a faculty member on his or her use of PowerPoint in the classroom, followed by an informal – and lively - conversation.
This conversation provides faculty an opportunity to:
- Share innovative ideas on using PowerPoint in teaching and learning;
- Provide a forum for demonstrating PowerPoint presentations, in order to solicit feedback and suggestions for revision;
- Share resources, such as techniques and templates that might prove helpful for faculty seeking to use PowerPoint more effectively in their teaching and learning;
- Discuss strategies for gathering student input on successful strategies for using PowerPoint in ways that engage today’s millennial learner; and
- Tap into shared expertise to resolve problems or find workarounds for technical limitations and glitches.
On Friday, November 13th, starting at 3:00 p.m., Dr. Steven Schneider, Professor of Astronomy at the University of Massachusetts will share his insights, experiences, as well as his successes and failures using PowerPoint and clickers in the classroom. His presentation will cover how polling devices like clickers can provide immediate student feedback to instructors, increase student participation in the classroom, and discuss ideas for developing good questions that engage students. The audience will participate with the clicker system used at UMass and will demonstrate a variety of techniques that go beyond the basic "multiple choice" approach.
This presentation will be held in Dana 232 and refreshments will be provided. We hope you will be able to join us for this exciting faculty development opportunity. If you are a faculty member using PowerPoint or would like to use PowerPoint in your classes, please contact FCLD at fcld@hartford.edu FCLD and the faculty members helping to coordinate PowerPoint Circles are actively recruiting presenters for future PowerPoint Circles.